The Nizam-I Cedid Army under Sultan Selim III 1789-1807 Author(s): Stanford J.

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THE NIZAM-I CEDID ARMY UNDER SULTAN SELIM III 1789-1807

by
J. Stanford Shaw
Cambridge(Mass.)
The termNizdm-i-Cedid, "New Order",is generally or appliedto the of entire and r
eforms introfinancial, military spectrum administrative, duced into the OttomanE
mpirein the almosttwo decades of rule of used synonymously the with Sultan Selim
III 1. The termis sometimes Yet itself. in fact,it was appliedby theSultan and h
is contemporeign the rariesonlyto one part of his reforms, new armycreatedentire
ly of from oldercorps, the and it was onlybecause outside and independent that i
ts name later of the spectacular natureof this particular reform the was applied
also to the efforts whichthis Sultan made to reform sense as olderinstitutions
well. But it is in the limited, contemporary, of the term thatit is used here. i
n The Nizam-iCedidarmywas, as we will see, largelya failure its an owntime.Yet i
t represented important forward theevolution in step even the most"modern"and of
Ottoman reform. Untilit was created, conceived reform no morethanan of as "libe
ral"ofOttoman statesmen of and effort restore purity old institutions practices,
to make to the and to which had brought themoperatein the manner greatness the
Empire of in the fifteenth sixteenth Even the most perceptive and centuries. how
Ottoman "reformers" not reallyunderstand did eighteenth century muchEurope had
changedsincethe timeof Suleimanthe Magnificent howgreattheOttoman and thatno mat
ter wayshad beentwocenturies instieven at theirbest,theycouldbe no matchforthe m
odern before, of tutions stateand war whichhad been evolvedin the West.But with
to theNizam-i Cedidthere camethefirst Ottoman awakening therealities ofthemodern
a the of world, newconceptofreform, creation newinstiin tutions on and practice
s modelled thosedeveloped the West, directly from and theirintroduction place of
thosewhichhad been inherited in thepast.Thiswas theidea ofreform which characte
rized nineteenththe
1 B. Lewis, The Emergence Modern Turkey (London of 1961) p. 56-58; Enver Ziya Ka
ral, OsmanlzTarihi. V. Cilt. Nizam-i Ceditve Tanzimatdevirleri (1789-1856)
(Ankara 1947) p. 63-64.

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

169
whichwas to bringthe OttomanEmpire Tanzimatmovement century worldon a largescale
forthe first into the modern time. of cameintobeingon a smallscale The nucleus
thenewarmyactually the sometimebefore Sultanknewaboutit or made a definite decis
ion to of the oldercorps.In late 1791, such a new force independent organize whi
lethe GrandVezirYfisuf Pasa was stillin the fieldagainstthe Rusin of in sians,he
assembled his campa smallnumber renegades captured at least one Turk who had be
en the courseof the campaign, including and had servedforsometimein by captured
the Russiansyearsbefore in Russianarmy.These renegades, cooperation witha fewmem
bers the oftheGrandVezir'spersonal withcaptured Russian guard, beganto train exe
rcisesand maneuvers,and they weapons, using European-style in of master's tentas
a kindofenterperiodically front their performed divertthe army'sleadersfrom tai
nment orderto in theirincreasingly At thisnewgroup no more was than difficult mi
litary problems. thisstage, oftheGrandVezir.No effort madeto force a toy,a perso
nal was caprice the othercorpsto accept or even observethe infidel practicesof w
ar, sincesucha revolutionary had notyetbeenauthorized theSultan, step by and the
oldercorpsin the past had demonstrated violentreactions to new to introduce way
swhich undermine position the might any attempts in of of society virtue their b
y theyhad secured Ottoman monopoly the and military techniques weaponsofthepast.
Newwayswouldundermine theirposition Ottoman so in society, theywerevigorously o
pposed,and so sucha reaction couldnotbe risked longas theenemy readyto take was
in disorder the Ottomanarmy,howeverinadvantageof any internal be effective that
armymight 1. However,Yisuf Pasa did reportto the of Sultan on the activities thi
s smallgroup,and through thesereports, the Sultan finally to was influenced deve
lopsuch a guard on a larger 2 scale oncepeace was restored Whenthe Treatyof Jass
yfinally peace in 1792,the Imperial brought to armyreturned Istanbul,and withit
came YtisufPasa and his new it the he the corps.However, left outside cityso he
coulddiscover Sultan's before viewson thesubject himself thewrath thesupporters
to of exposing of the old corps. It turnedout that Selim's reactionwas extremely
shown the favorable. weakness The against enemy theoldercorpshad by
referred as TKS), Yeni Gelenler 1376, to 1 Top Kapz Saray archives(hereafter fol
. 4oa-5oa; W. Eton, A Survey of the TurkishEmpire (London 1799, 2nd ed.) archive
s(hereafter London, ForeignOffice referred p. 98-99; Public Record Office, of th
e French Foreign Ministry, Quai d'Orsay, Correspondance politique: Turquie,
to as FO), 78/20, no. 7 (I March 1792). 2 FO 78/13, no. 8 (io April 1792); FO 78
/15, no. 31 (25 December 1794); Archives
hereafter referred to as AE, 184, fol. 284 (26 March 1793).

170
Stanford Shaw J.
the convinced Sultanthattheycouldnot be reformed, thatonlyan and new to created
and tactics, entirely army, especially use thenewweapons and unhindered the ways
of the past, could successfully the defend by its enemies. whenhe learnedof the
presence the So of Empireagainst new corps,he wentto see it perform, was extrem
ely and In impressed. withthesuperiority themassedfirepower of which fact,he was
so struck it was able to assemble, thathe decidedto createsuch a newarmyand to
use thisgroupas its nucleus. In late March,1792,the Britishambassadorto Istanbul
provideda fewnewmuskets bayonets theGrandVeziron an informal and for basis, whil
einquiring his government to the replyhe shouldgive to the of as Sultan'srequest
s largescale assistance thiskind In themeantime, for of 1. the Grand Vezir enrol
led one Turks fromthe approximately hundred streets Istanbulto man the new corps
,and the German of and Russian back fromthe war became its officers and drill re
negadesbrought an masters In April,the district Levend ?iftlik, isolatedspot ten
of 2. milesnorthof the capital on the plateau overlooking Besiktason the used c
annonforce trained a small on Bosporus, formerly by therapid-fire scalebyBaronde
Totttwodecadesbefore, chosen thedrill was as grounds of the new corpsso that it
wouldbe farenoughaway from people the of Istanbuland from oldercorpsthat it wou
ldexciteneither the their northeiranxiety untilit was readyto meetany opposition
disapproval withforce In addition, muchto thechagrin theBritish of ambassador,
3. fourFrenchinfantry officers wereappointed adviseon its operations to and assi
st in the drills,Lieutenant-General Menant,and Lieutenants and PierceLaroque-Mon
teil Luzin,Ranchoup, 4. But up to thispoint,all ofthisactivity had beenundertake
n secretly by the Sultan and the Grand Vezir, withoutobtainingany formal it the
approvalfrom ImperialCouncilor publicizing in any way. It was
1 FO 78/20, I March 1792; FO 78/13,no. 8 (io April 1792); AE 184, fol. 284 (26 M
arch 1793). Ahmed Vislf, Mahasin al-AAsrve al-Ahbar,vol. IV .Haqaiyiq (MS TY 597
9, Istanbul UniversityLibrary, Istanbul), fol. I29a-I3oa.
2
of TiirkeiII corresStaatsarchiv, Vienna, Archivesof the Ministry ForeignAffairs,
referred as HHS, Tiirkei II, vol. Ioo, no. 33 (io October to pondence, hereafte
r Levend ?2iftlik was given by Sultan CAbd I to O(AziIHasan originally as an est
ate in rewardforhis long and meritorious service.O(Yzi ul-.Hamid 1Hasan,since he
was Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet,used sailors (called levends)fromthe Pa.
a fleetto farmand maintainthis estate, and so it came to be called Levend9iftlik
. Construction the Nizam-i Cedid barracks began here in August of 1792. HHS, of
Tiirkei II - ioo, no 33 (io October 1792); FO 78/14, no. 14 (25 May 1793). Istan
bul, hereafter Arfivi(Archivesof the Prime Minister'sOffice, 4 Baf Vekalet
3
Eton, Turk. Empire, p. 99; FO 78/14, no. 14 (25 May 1793); Haus-, Hof- und
1792).
referred to as B VA), Hatt-z Humayun 12193; AE 184, fol. 285-288 (26 March 1793)
.

under Cedid TheNizam-i Sultan III Selim Army

171
in onlyin late Apriland earlyMay thatthiswas undertaken, a seriesof held on the
subject in the roomsof the ImperialCouncil'. meetings Sincethe Sultan'sviewswere
made clearright from start, the therewas to littleopen opposition the new armyas
such. The proponents the of new forcewere led by the Seyhul-Isldm,Mehmed'ArifEf
endi,the influential Molla Tatarcik 'Abdullah Efendi,and the Sultan's former and
slaveand closefriend advisor, who became Mustafd ResidEfendi, later of the dire
ctor the Nizam-iCedidand its chief in proponent the councils of state. Differenc
es betweenthesemen and the othermembers the of Councilarose mainlyon the questio
nof how the new armywould be and financed. Wouldit be partofthe old corpsor woul
dit be organized Would the old ImperialTreasury independent? (Hfazine-i 'Amire)h
ave to pay forit, or would new sourcesofrevenue found support ? be to it that an
entirely new corpscompletely outsidethe YfisufPapa argued established wouldneed
lessly excitetheJanissaries and military hierarchy the vested interests associat
edwith them and incite them to revolt before newarmy the was strong to itself fo
rce. felt He enough defend by that if the new corpswas in someway made part of t
he old system at least in form, opposition the wouldbe deludedor appeaseduntilit
was too late. But Tatarcik 'Abdullah Efendirepliedby pointing out the burden th
atsuchan armywouldplace on the Imperial and Treasury the oldercorpsifit wereatta
ched them. to Newbarracks, uniforms, weapons, and schoolswouldbe expensive provi
de. to New menand officers would have to be paid. The neededforeign and technici
ans advisorswouldbe to The and revenues especially expensive employ. Treasury it
sestablished werealreadybeingtappedto thelimit.Each itemofrevenue already was Th
e oldercorpswouldvigorously assignedto a specific purpose. protest ifanyoftheir
revenues werediverted suchpurposes. onlysolution for The was to create new taxes
, to findnew sourcesof revenuepreviously older sourcesto an energetic new untapp
ed,or to turnover neglected much betterable to administer themthan the Treasuryo
rganization He established Treasury. wantedthe new armycorpsand its financial th
e separatedfrom old in the fearthat the latter organization entirely would hinde
rtheirefforts everyturn.These werethe two principal at led thosewho supported Ef
endi's Mustafd 'Abdulldh arguments. Redid new corps, while the position and want
ed an entirely independent
Enver Ziya Karal, Selim III'un Hatt-s Humayunlars - Nizam-i Cedid The debates at
these meetingsare summarizedin I789-1807 (Ankara 1946), p. 49. Vislf IV, fol. I
4oa-I5oa; Halil Nfir, Nilrf Tda'rh (Asir Efendi collection,Siiley1
maniye library, Istanbul, MS 239), fol. 15ib-i54b; no. 6 (ii March 1793).
also HHS
- Tiirkei II 102,

172
Stanford J. Shaw
the Treasurer Serif (Defterddr) Pasa led thosewhosupported GrandVezir, to should
expanditsrevenues meetthenew thattheold Treasury stating and military of and tha
t the creation another Treasury corps expenses, and duplicationof effort, an wou
ld cause even further inefficiency merit(Nilri,fol. 154b-I55a). Finally,on not e
ntirely without argument a for Cedid.To provide itsexpenses newtreasury under na
meNizam-i the wereassigned it. to whatever revenues to wouldbe organized adminis
ter boththenewarmyand its treasury But to appease the vestedinterests, in instit
utions the Ottoman were clothedin the garb of established system. new of Because
the creation an entirely force priorprovision required for latter camefirst. Ma
rchI, On for offunds itsoperation, legislation the for was independent treasury
established thenewarmy, 1793,an entirely and it was giventhenameIrdd-iCedid,the
"New Revenue"1. Direction was Nizam-iCedidorganization givento Mustafd oftheenti
re ResidPasa titlesofIrdd-iCedidDefterddrf withtheformal as Supervisor, (Treasur
er his dutiesas head ofthenewtreasury, oftheNew Revenue)for financial of and of
Ta'limli 'AskeriNdziri (Supervisor the TrainedSoldiers)for withan annualsalaryof
50,000piasters his military duties, plus rations. Ottoman himwithrankand prestig
e theregular To provide in hierarchy, of the nowhonorific of $iqq-iSdni Defterdd
ri post (SecondTreasurer the as ImperialTreasury)was set aside for him and for h
is successsors himan equal withthe other of Director theNizam-iCedid,thusmaking
Council. of officers statein the Imperial
was The Siqq-i Sani Defterdarlik createdafterthe conquest of the Arab provinces
in the early i6th centuryto deal with their financial affairsand also those of A
natolia. In the middle of the same century,these two areas were divided, with th
e second Defterdarthereafter dealing primarilywith the financialproblemsof Anato
lia. However, by the time of Selim III, this post no longerhad any formal duties
, and was no more than an honorific position given to provide its holders with r
ank and revenues. See B. Lewis, Daftardar, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam in: (New E
d.) II, 83; Mehmed Zeki, Te~kildt-icAtiqada Defterddr, Tiirk Tarih
Encumeni Mecmucasi VIII
(1926)
May 14, 1792, a compromisewas reached. A new army was to be created
no. 14/91, P. 96-102, no. 16/93, p. 234-244;
(Istanbul 1213/1798) p. 9-14; Nilri, fol. 155a-I64a; Karal, Nizam-i Cedit, p. 49
-59, 81-93; Ahmed Cevdet, Tdrih-i Cevdet (12 vols., Istanbul 1301-1309) VI, 47-5
2; FO 78/14, no. 6 (II March 1793); HHS - Turkei II - 102, no. 6 (ii March 1793)
.
1 The regulationsestablishingand organizingthe new Irad-i Cedid treasuryare give
n in full in Qavanin-i Sultan Selim, MS Y-534 in the libraryof the Turkish Histo
ricalSociety (TiirkTarih Kurumu) in Ankara,fol.42a-45b; Vasif IV, 72b-8ob; Ahmed
Cevdd, Tdarh-icAsker-icOsmani,vol. II (TY 3208, MS in Istanbul Universitylibrar
y,Istanbul), p. 14-19. They are summarizedand discussed in Ismail Hakki Uzungari
lih, DevletininMerkezve Bahriye Teqkilat (Ankara 1948) Osmannh p. 368-9; Mahmud
Rayf, Tableau des nouveaux riglemensde l'empire Ottoman

under Sultan Selim Cedid TheNizam-i III Army

Istanbul 1946-1955) I, 411-418.
173
MehmedZeki Pakaln, OsmanliTarih Deyimleri Terimleri ve Sdzligii (3 vols.,
Duringthe next fewmonths, MustafaResid and otherhighofficials of the Imperial ex
amined ofits revenues see whichcould all to Treasury bestbe givenup to thenewTre
asury. for Specifically, werelooking they tax in potentially profitable sourcesw
hichhad not been fully exploited the past, so that theirloss wouldnot harmthe ol
d Treasury much, too whiletheywouldat thesametimeprovide newTreasury the witha g
ood tax base. Finallytheydecidedto givetheIrdd-iCedidas itsmainsource 1 of reven
ueall the tax farms(Muqd.ta'a,Iltizdm) of the Treasury, with those belonging the
Holy Cities foundations, to which together annualprofits morethantenpurseseach
to thetax farmers of produced to whomtheywereassigned.To lighten the effect the
loss of these of on revenues the ImperialTreasury and its tax farmers, Sultan al
so the decreedthat this transfer shouldtake place onlywhenthe holdings in were v
acated by their currentfarmers, and that afterthe question Irdd-iCedidtreasury t
ookthem it over, should pay theImperial Treasury the regularpurchaseprices previ
ously paid for these farmsby the of and privatetax farmers, equal to fiveyears'p
rofits the tax farmers, that in additionit shouldpay the regular annual taxes wh
ichthe tax farmers had to for previously delivered theImperial Treasury thesefar
ms. In essence, itself becamethe tax farmer thus,the Irid-i Cedidtreasury of the
se holdingsfor the ImperialTreasury, them and administering theirtaxes by sub-fa
rming themto its owntax farmers. collecting In addition, fiefs all set of (Timdr
)previously aside formembers the fiefs more Humbaraci corpsand thenavy,and all m
ilitary worth (Mortar) than fifteen thousand whoseholders werefoundto be piaster
s year per absentfrom their landsorfailing their in in duties anywaywere beseize
d to forthe new treasury and administered it. Finally,variousold and by taxeswer
eassigned it fordirect to collection itsagents: newly-created by thevery tax oft
woparasperokke wine,three of profitable Zecriyye paras of of per okke raki,and f
ourper okke spirits (BVA, CevdetMaliye,2800 and 30980; PakalinIII, 649); theResm
-i Penbetax ofone para per okke collectedby the Imperial Mint (Darbjhdne) seller
sof from previously cotton clothand oftwoparas perokke cotton of levied thread,
previously
1 Imperial possessions were alienated from the possession of the Imperial Treasu
ryas Muqatacas, and these Muqa.tacaswere assigned to agents as tax farms (Iltizd
ms) or to salaried employees (Emins) as agencies (Emdnets)for collection. See Uz
ungarsili,Merkez ve Bahriye Teqkilatz,p. 383-384; Pakalin II, 578-579; Suleymdn
Sfidi,Defter-i Muqtesid (3 vols., Istanbul 1890) II, 47; H. A. R. Gibb
and Harold Bowen, Islamic Society and the West (i vol., 2 pts., London 1950-57)
in: JAOS, vol. 83 (1963), 447-452.
Archivesas a Sourcefor Egyptian History, 1/2,p. 2In; S. J. Shaw, The Ottoman

174
J. Stanford Shaw
and to examine all his accounts at least once a month. Thus were the financialfo
undationsof the "new order" laid.
of forthebenefit theArsenal(Tersine)ofIstanbul;theDuhhlin Giimriik tax of six pe
r centon all imports customs of and exports tobacco; the of of soldin thepublic
Resm-i Palamad charge one para perokke walnuts tax of threeparas per okkeon all
sales of markets;the Resm-iTiftik the Bunn tax of eightparas Angorawoolin the pu
blicmarkets; Resm-i in the markets Istanbul; the Resm-i of sold per okkeof coffe
e Istifilof twoparas per okke Moreagrapes;theResm-i of Boya-iKiakoftwoaqces of 3
0826; HHS, TurkeiII-ioi, no. per okke dyes (BVA, CevdetMaliye, of December theRe
sm-i 39 [IO 1792]); Yapdagofone para perokke wool and the 'Adet-i tax of one par
a per head of sheep and woolens; Agndm all and soldin themarkets overtheEmpire(B
VA, CevdetMaliye bought wouldprovide new the 2881 and 2815). It was hopedthatth
esesources witha steadyannualrevenue aboutonemillion of aside piasters, treasury
to from Zecriyye whichwas to be used exclusively pay offthe the tax, newtreasur
y's debtsto the Imperial Treasury. To further the latterforthe loss of these rev
enues, a compensate numberof its expenditure associatedwith the established obli
gations to corpswerealso transferred the new Irdd-iCedid treasury. military to F
romthestartofthefinancial year1793,it was required pay notonly the salaries and
expensesof the Nizam-iCedid army,its basic raison barracksand salaries but also
the cost of the new equipment, d'dtre, and Sapping)and Tdpci of the Humbaracf (M
ortar), Lagimdc(Mining of of corps,thesalariesand expenses themenand officers th
e (Artillery) fleetand dockyard, all expensesabove thosenormally and provided by
for the Imperial corpsin thecourseof Treasury the established infantry was Thus
the Imperial expeditions againsttheenemy. Treasury required the to pay onlythos
eexpenditures incumbent it in peace timebefore on wereinaugurated. surpluses All
Nizam-iCedid and othernew reforms leftin thenewtreasury theendofeach yearhad to
be sentto a sepaat rateplacein the Mintand theresaved forspecialwartime expendi
tures, thus like something a "war chest" to be used onlyin emergencies, to of th
e thenewand old treasuries alikefrom heavyburden war. spare a for TheIrdd-i was
Cedid building itsoperations treasury given separate its in theOrtaKaptstquarter
theTop Kapi Saray palace. To register of to a specialscribe assigned it by the
was and dailyrevenues expenditures, of the ImperialTreasury Rfizndme with a Vezn
eddr along department made to it in cash and kind.Whilethe to payments (Weigher)
measure the was of Irid-i CedidDefterddrf made the director the new treasury, h
is of was to Defterddr theImperial Treasury required supervise activities

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

175
set his MustafaRegidEfendiimmediately about to organize Treasury to and arrange
collectits revenues. the end ofAugust,1792,he had By alone1. By the end fiefs al
readyseized fifty-one in Karaman province overfour hundred bringing fiefs reveof
thesame year,he had assembled was collecting and he nues of seventhousand about
piasters month, per
435,000 piasters monthlyfromall the revenues assigned to his treasury, out of wh
ich only 124,000 piasters were paid to the Imperial Treasury
and to the collecting agents(BVA, Ali Emiri-III Selim 17665). Steps also were ta
ken to expand the military corps. The French Menantand Lieutenants Lieutenant-Ge
neral Ranchoupand Luzin came of Francealongwithsix sergeants sentby theFrench fr
om Ministry War rifles wereimported increasing in to trainthe new corps,and newstyle the first, size ofthecorpswas deliberately small,withno morethan kept men
and officers enrolled at two hundred and training the end of May, to at principa
lly providebarracksand drillgrounds Levend (iftlik,to for officers equipment and
from import Europe,to make new uniforms bonuses and salariesforthosewhowereenro
lled. themen,and to provide
Between April, 1793 and March, I795, Mustafi Resid managed to collect 1793. Most
of the Irdd-i Cedid revenues in 1793 and 1794 were used quantities from France,
England and Sweden (BVA, HH 12193). At
was a total of 1,356,541 piastersforthe corps,ofwhich three-quarters spentat the
timewiththebalanceput aside forthewar chest2. and preparaat Whilethe nucleusof t
he corpstrained Levend?iftlik tions were made forsubsequentexpansion, also were
made to efforts popularizethe new ways among the people and the men of the older
so corps,or at least to break the news gradually, that when the esof was tablis
hment thenewcorpsitself publicly proclaimed, theywould not be taken by surprise
and goaded into any sudden,violentaction. The Sultanand his ministers wentto Lev
end?iftlik to inspect regularly the drillsand, by theirpresence, publicizethe ex
istence the corps to of sanction its activities to and lend official 3. It was o
nlyin the late summer 1794 thatthe Sultanwas satisfied of was preparedforthe pub
lic announcement the of that public opinion
list of fiefsseized forthe Irad-i Cedid treasurybetween 1793 and 18oo are found
B in the following VA registers: Tapu 941; Kepeci 615; Cevdet Maliye 4567; Cevde
t
Maliye 310o6; Cevdet Maliye 7082; Muhasebe 6094. 2 B VA, Ali Emiri - III Selim 1
6264 and 16551; TKS, E 343; Cheni6, Apperqu 71-73 (19 Vendemiaire an III); E 701
6, E 3786, E 8421. HHS, Turkei 11-1o3, no. 18 (28 June 1793); TKS 1 B VA, Cevdet
Maliye 31o6; Cevdet Dahiliye 8750; TKS, E 2053. Complete
de la situationmilitairedes Turcs,AE 191, p. 355. 3 AE 184, fol. 284 (26 March 1
793); AE 189, fol. 159 (5 Frimaire an III), fol.

176
Stanford Shaw J.
was sufficiently new corps,and that the corpsitself developedso that it could re
sistany opposition whichits open proclamation mightstir. its military So the off
icial organization finally regulations establishing on wereproclaimed September
ofthatyear,almosttwoyearsafterit 18 1. actuallybegan its work In orderto fitthe
Nizam-iCedid armyinto and as Ottoman theestablished hierarchy attract littleatte
ntion military it as possible, was officially attachedto the old-established Bos
tiniydn-i the branch, Bostdni corps2 as its infantry-rifle (Bostdni Tiifenkcisi
Hjdssa Veli To assistMustafaResid in its military operations, corps. riflemen) w
as appointedas its firstColonel (~gd). While the regulation Aga3 that the fullco
rpswould eventually declaredthe hope and intention a menand officers, themoment
single for have twelve thousand regiment of 1,602 officers men was organized Lev
end ?iftlikas a at and (Orta) to as and menbecameavailmodelforlatergroups be org
anized money was able. Actual military of the regiment givento a Binbdyi directi
on Yemin(Majorof (,,headof one thousand")and two majors,the Agd-ys the Right)and
Agd-yi Yesdr(Majorofthe Left),each ofwhomwas put The in chargeof a division men
ofofficers. two (tablr)of eighthundred divisions werefurther dividedinto a total
of twelvesmallercompanies and led by a (b61ik),each composedof ninetymen and te
n officers of later called Yiizbds~(,,chief one commander company Bdsi) (B61iik
and these were divided into platoons of nine men each hundred"), also of command
ed an by Onbds (,,chief ten"). Each company was given one cannon (T5p), eightcan
nonmen (TJpci)and one CannonMaster fivecannonwagon men ('ArabacI),six orderlies
(Q5lluqcfi) (T(p Ustdsi), and variousother minor officials Table I). (see unifor
ms in withcomplete Common soldiers the corpswereprovided when theyenlistedand on
ce everyyear thereafter, with the fullcost Officers wereexpectedto meet the paid
by the rdd-iCededtreasury,
The fulltext of the regulationsestablishingand organizingthe Nizam-i Cedid Sulta
n Selim, corps,dated 21 Safar 1208/17 September1794,are foundin Qavdnfn-i fol. 5
2b-56b; Anon. and untitled MS in Istanbul UniversityLibrary, TY 3208, n fol. 33b
-37a; Ahmed Cevdd, Trfih-i cAsker-i cOsm~ II, 23-31. It is summarized in Cevdet
VI, 58-61, 304-305; Karal, Osmanh Tarihi V, 67-68. 2 The Bostaniydn (Gardeners),
also called Bostanci, corps, led by the Bostanci Badi (ChiefGardener)werewatchme
nand guardsforthe pavilionsin the Top Kapi Saray palace grounds,and also at many
gates and walls of the palace. They also provided personal guardians for the Su
ltan himself. Gibb and Bowen I1, 84; Pakalm I, 239-240; Uzungarsllh, Bostandji,
EI (new ed.) I 1277-1278, and BostandjiBashi, El (newed.) I 1278-1279. The Bosta
ni TiifenkczsT corps,whichwas the name but givento the Nizam-iCedidby Selim, did
not exist before, was createdespecially forthis purpose. 3 See Ismail Hami Dani
smend, Izahls Osmanlz Tarihi Kronolojisi (4 vols.,
1
Istanbul 1947-1955) IV, 72.

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

TABLE
177
I
ORGANIZATION
OF THE NIZAM-I CEDID AT LEVEND QIFTLIK Annual Number Salary of Men Each (piaster
s)
REGIMENT Daily Total Bread (okkes)
10 25
3 1/2
Daily Annual Bread Total Each Salary (okkes) (piasters)
IO 3 1/2 12,000
I. CHIEF
OFFICERS
I.
2.
4. Katib Yamcfi
5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Katib (Scribe) 3. Muderris (Chief Instructor) (Assistant Scribe) Nefer Katibi (S
alary Scribe) Binbadi (Major) Kethodd (Lieutenant) Topfi Badi (Chief Cannoneer)
CArabacbidb
AF
I I 2 2 I I I
I
I2,000
-4,000
25
-4,000
I,ooo 500
4,000 1,250
I,ooo
I I 5 2 1/2 2
2,000
I,ooo 4,000

1,250
I,ooo
2 2 5 2 1/2 2
(Cannon-WagonChief) io. Cebecibfi (Chief
I
I I I I I 2
8oo
500 300 6oo I,ooo I,ooo 750
2
I 1/2 I I 1/2 2 2 I I/2
8oo
500 300 6oo I,ooo I,ooo 1,500
2
I 1/2 I I 1/2 2 2 3
of Ammunition Stores) II. Cebeci!dviifu (Ammunition stores Assistant) 12. Mehter
bdi (Band Chief) 13. Aga-yz Yemin (Chief of the Right Division) 14. X a-yz Yesar
(Chief of the Left Division) Mulzim Agd (Chief I5. of Apprentices)
OF II. OFFICERS MEN AND
I. Bdliik Bad 2. Muldzim
EACH COMPANY (Boliik) 12
3. CAlemdar (Standard-Bearer) 4. -adviiz (Sergeant)
24 12
12
400 350 300
500
I 1/2
I I I
6,ooo 9,600 4,200 3,600
18 24 12
I2
AND III. OFFICERS MEN
IN THE REGIMENT
Men per Total in Company Regiment
i. Onbdsi (Corporal)
120
Total Daily Daily Salary plus Money Salary forfood plus Money for Food (aqfes) (
aqfes)
70 (40+30) 50 (20+ 30)

3. Tap Ustasz (Cannon Master) 4. T#pHalifest (Cannon Assistant) Oriens18-19

2. Neferat (Riflemen)
io 90go I
I
8,400
5,400
I,o8o
12
12
78 (48 + 30) 66 (36+30)
926
792
12

178
5. TopcG (Cannoneers)
J. Stanford Shaw
8 96 12 58 (28+30) 5,568
6. cArabaci Halifesi WagonAssistant) (Cannon 7. cArabacd Neferati (Cannon WagonM
en) 8. Sornazen (Trumpeteers) 9. Tablzen (Drummers) io. Saqqd (Water-bearers)
(Apprentices) I I. Qara qiilluqpli
I 5 I I 2
6
66 (36+30)
792
60 50o (20+30) 12 66 (36+30) 12 66 (36+30) 24 50 (20+30)
72
3,000 792 792
1,200 3,600
50 (20 +30)
and cost of theiruniforms otherpersonalexpensesfromtheirregular of was establish
ed salaries.A regularhierarchy promotion withinthe the corps,withvacanciesfilled
by the personsoccupying posts immeelse beneaththemand everyone moving one notch.
However, up diately of was menout provision made forthe advancement unusually qu
alified in if in battle. oforder specialcases,especially theyshowedtheir ability
of had however, preference to be givento Amongpersons equal ability, The men we
rerequired remainin theirbarracks to age and seniority. and and day, to forgoall
outsideemployment residence, and to night were made forone out of However,arran
gements practiceconstantly. to for five up every mento return hisfamily periods
to six months during for wereestablished thosewhoreturned the winter. Heavy puni
shments of of late from suchleave and forall members suchgroups fiveofwhom moret
hanone man was absentat a giventime.In thesummer months, all the men had to be a
t theirposts except those excusedbecause of in illness.Men had to remain the cor
psat least threeyearsso that the that timethey state wouldbenefit from training
the giventhem.After to theirformer could leave and return but if occupations the
ywished, to sinceentering received onlyifthey agreed paybackall thesalaries they
the corps! Those who retired because of illnessor old age weregiven to one-half
their activesalariesat the timeofretirement. pensions equal If theyretired the
resultof battlewoundsincurred the courseof in as activeduty, weregivenpensions f
ull and they equal to their salaries, even morein certain cases. At the timethe
regulation was issued,therewereonly468 menand in at and theywerelivingin flimsy
20 officers training Levend ?iftlik, wooden shacksand tents barracks under const
ruction becausetheregular HH 9759). But during nextyear had notyetbeen completed
the (BVA, recruits came rapidly,mainlyfromamong unemployed youthsfound of thest
reets Istanbuland from private the of armies theleading roaming 1 and the notabl
esof Anatolia soon reachedits fullstrength. regiment
In some cases, the notables contributedmen to the new armyforspecific
1
HHS - TiirkeiII - 103, no. 14 (io May 1793), no. 20 (25 July 1793).

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

179
and weapons periodsof two or threeyears,so theywouldget training the and hometo
bolster the from central government, couldthenreturn forces (BVA, HH I2O87). Mos
t of the permanent provincial buildings were completed the end of 1796, includin
g threebarracks, rifle a by two mosquesand a school (BVA, HH 7137). Members the
of factory, in withblue berets, breeches red corpsweredressed the Frenchmanner,
and red jackets. The main difference the uniforms the men between of were and th
eofficers theswords and thebuttons sewnabove thepockets ofthelatter wentahead II
, 'Asker-i 'Osmdni, 31). Training (Cevad,Tdrih-i of rapidlyunderthe direction Ra
nchoup,Luzin and Menant,and the visitedby the Sultan and his chiefofficials. dri
llswerefrequently of The revenues the Irdd-iCedidtreasury expandedrapidlyas more
and morevacated tax farms and fiefs wereturnedover to it, reaching about one mi
llion werepaid annuallyto the ImperialTreasury piasters for as compensation its
lostrevenues, a similar and sumwentto pay the of salariesand expenses the menand
officers at training Levend?iftlik, whilethebalancewentto the "war chest"to pay
fortheexpenses the of in progress mountain rebelsbothin Europe campaigns curren
tly against and Anatolia(BVA, Kepeci 2381). With this veryfavorable financial an
d underthe stimulus situation, of the Frenchinvasionof Egypt,the Sultan finally
feltthat the new and an entirely regiment created couldbe safely new was corps e
xpanded, were differences betweenthe regiments, however.The older Levend of ?ift
likforcewas composedentirely infantry men,whereasthe new was to have cavalryas w
ell as infantry. forthe newregiMen regiment mentwereto be providedentirely the v
ariousprovincial by governors, who wereordered recruit to men locallyand trainth
emin the Nizam-i Cedidway underthe direction officers from of sent Levend ?iftli
k. The salariesof trainees and officers alike wereprovided the Irad-i Cedid by t
o Whilethesemenwereto continue servewiththegovernors, treasury. in almostas prov
incial local order, central a militias, orderto maintain for was established the
mat tskiidar (Scutari), acrossthe Bosbarracks their and their Istanbul,to contro
l porusfrom operations. training direct forthe new regiment wereset aside for Ba
rracksand training grounds the it at whichsurvived barracks, including famous Se
limiyye Q.dikby, of into modern times1. The internal was organization the newreg
iment
1 Mehmed RA'if, Mir'at-i E 3752; BVA, HH 3732.
3,033,894 piasters in the financial year 1795 (BVA, Cevdet Maliye 19808) and 6,5
00,000 piasters in 1798 (BVA, Kepeci 2381). Of this sum,
on the model of that at Levend ?iftlik on November 23, 1799. There
Istanbfil (Istanbul
1314) I, 80-84; TKS,
E
I13;

I80
Stanford Shaw J.
withthe exception that its exactlythe same as that of Levend ?iftlik, total numb
er was without limit.To coordinate activities the two the of Nizam-iCedidregimen
ts, newpost was created, a OcdqKetjhoddsi (Lieutenantof the Corps),and it was us
uallygivento the ablestof the Binof the two regiments. of Overall direction both
remained the in bdass handsoftheholderofthe combined and postsofIrid-i CedidDef
terddri was Ta'limli 'AskeriNdziri.Finally,the new regiment giventhe color to it
s lightblue forits jacketsand breeches, distinguish menand officers thoseofLeven
d?iftlik from 1. In May, 1797, the Nizam-iCedid army,witha singleregiment, had e
nrolled and paid (B VA, HH 7137, 2,536men and 27 officers officially the of and
increasing 9559),butwith addition thenewregiment continued
revenues,this numberrose rapidly. In September,1799 there were 4,317
in were6,029menand 27 officers, menand 30 officers, April,18oo there and in July
,18oi, therewere 9,263 men and 27 officers VA, HH (B In the summer 18oo, the wea
lthyfeudaldistricts of 6768). (sancdq)of and Karaman wereseized forthe Irdd-i (B
ursa), B0li, Huddvendigdr of and Cedidtreasury, thoseof the entire province Anad
oluunderwent one a similar transformation yearlater.In theend,notall theprovinci
al recruited and trainedNizam-iCedidmen,but nine of them governors did, includin
g'Abdurrahman Pasa, Governorof Karaman, who in rewardforhis serviceswas appointe
dColonelof the entireVYskiidar Startingin 18o2, he developed a systemof military
conscription Anatolia to provideregularcontingents men for the of throughout Niz
am-i Cedid. Each provincial and district official and notable was to senda certa
in of in number mento Vtskiidar training the for required new armyforperiodsof b
etween months and one year.Abouthalf six were as for Levend these in contingents
trained infantry service theregular The and iskiidar ?iftlik half as so regimen
ts. other wastrained cavalry they to could return form local militiasof the prov
incial the and governors In notables. return thisservice, recruits their for dis
trict the and families were exemptedfromall local taxes, and they were paid the
regular Nizam-iCedidsalarieseven whiletheystillwereonlyin training. In addition
this,after1804 an effort made to graduallytransto was form the old Timdrfeudalsy
stem into the new financial base forthis Nizam-iCedidmilitia. Fiefswereseizedfro
m on theirholders theflimsiest of pretexts and administered the Irdd-iCedidtreas
ury tax farms as by to providerevenue support recruitment training the same to t
he and of
1
regimentin 18oi (TKS, E 1113).
fol. 57b.
B VA, Cevdet Maliye 4327; Cevdet Askeri 34197; Qavdnin-i Sultan Selim,

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

181
of number menfortheNizam-iCedidmilitiaas wereformerly supported of was preserved
on a feudalbasis. The fiction feudalorganization by but of the application the
name SancdqBey to theirofficers, thesewere sent in factsalariedofficers to the p
rovinces the Levend ?iftlikand by the werebuiltfor newprovincial militia corps.R
egularbarracks Uskiidar of at at theexpense theIrdd-iCedidtreasury, Ankara, Bolu
,Kastamonu, and Izmir,while ?orum,Mentese, Kayseri,Nigde,Kirsehir, Kiitahya, wer
e housed in buildings used by the local elsewhere they previously Nizam-iCedid f
orces. Between18O2and I8o6, theseprovincial security six in mencameto (skiidar f
or month periods numbers training approacha of ingfivethousand year.By theendofI
8o6, as theresult theseefforts, werea totalof22,685menand 1,590officers in there
enrolled theNizam-i of half Cedidarmy, whomapproximately werestationed Anatolia
and in the balance in Istanbul and the Balkans1. The relativesuccessof this vent
ure a causedtheSultanto attempt similar Anatolian corpsin Europe, base at Edirne
(Adrianople), the Europeanportions withits central but of the Empire by this tim
e were entirely too far removedfromthe effective controlof the centralgovernment
this sort of levy to be for and the effective, as before, Ottomanarmyin Europe
underSelimcontinued depend menprimarily the contributions theindependto for on o
f entlocal notables. The rapid increasein the numberof men enrolledin the Nizami in the Cedid creatednew problems, particular same sort of disorderly, behavior
which had brought oldercorpsintodisrepute. the undisciplined In the earlydays o
ftheNizam-iCedid,the nucleusofits force consisted and intoOttoman handsduring Au
strian the ofrenegades whohad fallen in The bulk of the enlistedmen enrolled the
first Russian campaigns. few years were Turks comingmainlyfromIstanbul, fromthe
large who to groupof unemployed, joined as the onlyalternative starvation. Both
of thesegroupsconsisted persons of who wereaccustomed the to and in the residen
ce methods restraint, sanitary discipline, required by in of closeproximity larg
enumbers persons citiesand camps.However, of after1796 came fromthe villagesand
most of the new men enrolled menin tribalareas ofAnatolia.By I8oo, ninety centof
the enlisted per the armywere Turkishpeasants and tribesmen fromAnatolia (B VA,
HH 9125). Manyofthesejoinedfortheweaponsand plunder theycould to morethan anythi
ng else. Resistent discipline, to unaccustomed gain thekindofliferequired thecor
ps, turbulent by theybecameincreasingly
and disorderly,often coming down from Levend ?iftlik to ravage the
HHS,
1 B VA, Cevdet Maliye 28741; TKS, E 3404; B VA, HH 10731, 9125; Tiirkei 11-1o4,
no 24 (24 August 1793), io6, no. 16 (16 May 1794).

182
Stanford Shaw J.
villages along the Bosporus,with Tarabya, Yeni Kdy and Begikta? of most sufferin
g in thisway (TKS, E 3752). The officers thecorpsfound it increasingly to diffic
ult trainsuchmenin Europeantacticsand organization.Manyofthe menfledfrom campssh
ortly the after theyreceived was too hard,the their uniforms weapons, and that c
omplaining thework too severe,and the pay too low (TKS, E 3404). Forming discipl
ine into powerful new robberbands, they began to plague themselves and governors
alike in western notables Anatoliaand the Balkans,with the superior themby the
Sultangivingthema great weaponsprovided overtheir opponents (BVA, CevdetAskeri,
3876). advantage To combatthesedifficulties, weremade in the corps. variouschang
es for of were appointed.Punishments infractions the Additional officers the rul
esweremade moresevere.Efforts weremade to supervise men at when they were not ac
tuallyin the fieldor training the practice in The rapidincrease the number men i
n the corpshad far of grounds. at the drillfacilities Levend ?iftlikand Oskiidar
,so that outstripped as and drilldaily, was origfor it was impossible all the me
nto practice Those unable to practicewere in their regulations. inally envisaged
leftwithnothing do formuchof the time,sincesuch a contingency to The had not be
en provided in the regulations. resulting for idlenessand lack ofsupervision a m
ajorcause forthedifficulties was whichthearmy was now experiencing. as part of t
he solution, new revisedtraining So wereintroduced and decreedon April6, 18oi 1.
A regular regulations of training rotation was set up forthe use ofthe drillfie
lds. Six system wereordered traineach day, witheach companyof two to companies a
t Levend?iftlikthusbeingable to traineveryfourth day, regiments whileFridaysand
Tuesdayswerekeptaside as vacationdays as before. on Whenthemenwerenot scheduled
thedrillfields, theywererequired to practicewithout and to clean and powdernear
or in theirbarracks theirweapons.As an additionalmeasureto relievethe pressure r
epair caused by idleness,those members the corps wishing engagein of to outsidet
radeswhentheywerenot requiredat the practicefieldwere theirotherdutiessatisfacto
rily allowedto do so if theyhad performed with and in full,if their workwas cons
idered be "a tradein keeping to thehonor theCorps", of barracks and ifthey worke
d nearenough their to so theycould return nightand also could be called forinsta
ntduty at were now allowed to marryforthe when theywere needed. Officers first t
ime,but themenweresupposedto remain singleso theycouldbe
1
Istanbul University Library,TY 3208.
1215/6 April 18oi, are given in Qavanmn-i Sultan SelIm, fol. 71b; and Anon. MS i
n
The supplementaryregulationsof the Nizam-i Cedid corps, dated
21
QAda

The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III

183
subjected to the severe disciplineof the corps. However,those men to their weren
ot required divorce alreadyin the corpswhohad married as thosewhosefamilies need
edthemwere wives.On thecontrary, before allowedto form themselves into groupsof
fivemen of whomone could return homeduring winter. the In addition,to secure mor
e sufficient commandof the corps, the united in the person of the financialand m
ilitary duties originally wereseparated late 80oI, in withthepostof Ta'liml 'Ask
erf Supervisor of Training) to transferred the man who was Na-ziri being (Superv
isor the Supervisor the Tpyci (Cannon) and 'Arabacd(Cannon-Wagon) of whiletheNiz
am-iCedidSupervisor leftonlywith financial was his corps, and administrative as
Irdd-iCedidDefterddri, the rank of with duties, 1. $iqq-iSdnfDefterddrf Theseref
orms someeffect had 18oi and 1802,butperiodic cases during on of ofindiscipline
thepartofmembers thetskiidar corpsin particular continued be reported, to an dec
linein the discimanifesting increasing of and efficiency thecorps, and also infl
ictingfinal, a blow pline crushing effort popularizethe Nizam-iCedid among to ag
ainstthe government was thenewarmy.By theend ofSelim'sreign numbered it This,the
n, almost ten thousandmen, who were armed with modernweapons, and and trainedby
Europeanofficers, praisedfortheirefficiency good almost all the Europeans who ob
servedthem Together 2. bearingby with the reformed corps,it shouldhave providedt
he Sultan artillery force the withan effective capable not onlyof meeting enemy
military but also forprotecting Sultanand itself on equal terms, the againstthe
attacks of enemies.On the occasionsin whichit was employed, the Nizam-i Cedid ar
myeffectively over the demonstrated superiority its In and elements theold army.
1799,approximateof Janissaries theother of ly sevenhundred its menweresentby se
a to Gaza, wheretheyperformed services assisting governor, in its AhmedCezzdr im
portant Papa, in his stalwartdefenseof that fortress the advancingFrench against
3. army led by Napoleon Bonaparte In I8oo, when the Britishfleet in blockaded F
rench Alexandria, thousand the two Nizam-iCedidsoldiers werelandedalongwith6,000
regular and theymanaged Ottoman troops, a to maintain successful blockadeagainst
the Frenchat Rosetta,eventSul.t~n a Ch6ni6, Appergu, p. 362-363; HHS, Tiirkei 11
-1o7, no. 29 (io September 1794), io8, no. 32 (25 October 1794); Olivier I, 95-9
6. 8 Cevdet VII, 58; Cevad, Tarh II, 43; TKS, E 3404, E 7014; BVA, HH 13828; HHS
, Tiirkei-12o, no. 13 (25 February 1799), no. 14 (2 March 1799), no. 33 (18 May
i799), no. 37 (3 June 1799). 1 Qavanin-i Selim, fol. 46a; Cevid, Tarh-i cAsker-i
cOsmaniII,
18-20.
the people (BVA, HH 10731).

184
S. J. Shaw, The Nizam-i Cedid Armyunder Sultan Selim III
in themto surrender April,18OI 1. Duringthe next six ually forcing of soldiers t
henewarmy somewhat years, performed important, although serviceagainstmountain l
imited in banditforces the Balkan and Rho2. dope mountains But in the end, the N
izam-iCediddid not achieveits objectives.It a withtheIoo,ooo menfrom stillremain
ed smallforce comparison in the old regiments who composedthe bulk of the Ottoma
narmy.And the old corps absolutely refused accept the new training to and weapon
s, The theirevidentsuperiority. Janissaries refused servewith to despite the new
troops,so in the most important campaignsduringthe last decade of Selim'srule,t
he Nizam-iCedidtroopsperformed onlytoken to and continued be composed services,
themainOttoman army primarily with disastrousresults of the unruly and ineffecti
ve Janissaries, 3. the In 1807,whenthe opposition the Janissaries, Ulema,and oth
ers of of withvestedinterests the preservation the old institutions to led in ov
erwhelmed its openrevoltagainstSelim,thenewarmywas simply by were able to escape
. The and only a few of its members opponents, influence Ottoman Nizam-iCedid,ho
wever, have an important did on For its reform laterin the 19thcentury. one thin
g, fateshowedclearly the necessity destroying military the the of armofreaction,
Janissaries, were attempted, and the impactof beforereallyfundamental reforms a
nd thislessonon MahmudII is evident.Moreover, manyofficers men the which its in
followed trained theNizam-iCedidsurvived suppression in weredestroyed 1826,theyp
roand destruction, once the Janissaries II videdthenucleusforthenewarmycreated M
ahmud on themodel by the the of the Nizam-iCedid.Selim'snew armythusprovided exa
mple, whichwereto follow. lesson,the modeland the nucleusforthe reforms
1
March 1800oo).
TKS,
E 2320,
4241;
B VA, Kepeci 3247; HHS,
Tiirkei
11-122,
no.
II
(26
older militarycorps,see S. J. Shaw, The TraditionalOttoman military corpsunder
Sultan Selim III, in: Der Islam, vol. 40 (1964).
2 TKS, E 3752; HHS, Tiirkei 11-113, no. 31 (31 October 1796), 122, no. II (29 Ma
rch 18oo). 2 FO 78/25 in (25 May 1799); FO 78/28(29 January18oo); on Selim's ref
orms the